Godfather Director’s Big-Budget Megalopolis Could Make Less Money Than Borderlands

Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film, Megalopolis, had more than enough PR problems before it had a trailer pulled because it had AI-generated fake movie review quotes. That trailer was meant to reassure audiences that the auteur behind The Godfather trilogy had overcome negative buzz before. But if current box office projections for Megalopolis hold, it may have an even lower opening weekend than the Borderlands movie.

According to Variety, Megalopolis is tracking for a debut weekend that will land somewhere between $5 million and $7 million. By contrast, Borderlands opened with $8.6 million on its way to a dismal $32.9 million worldwide total against a $120 million budget. Megalopolis also reportedly cost $120 million to make, but the key difference is that Coppola put up most of that money by himself. The director has been trying to make this movie for years, and he moved to self-finance it when no major studio would go forward with him.

Coppola brought together an A-list cast for Megalopolis, including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, and Dustin Hoffman. Driver stars as Cesar Catilina, an architect who can control space and time. Cesar wants to completely re-conceptualize his crumbling city, New Rome, while Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Esposito) wants to maintain the status quo at any cost.

Earlier this year, background performers from one of Megalopolis’ club scenes accused Coppola of making unwelcome physical contact with some of the female extras that included kisses to “get them in the mood.” Coppola subsequently denied the charges, and sued Variety over the original story. But the alleged incident was another public black eye for the film.

Megalopolis will hit theaters on Friday, September 27.